What was the Black Death and when did it end?

BEIJING - The Black Death was an epidemic of bubonic plague, a disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis that circulates among wild rodents where they live in great numbers and density.

Originating in China, the disease spread west along the trade routes across Europe and arrived on the British Isles from the English province of Gascony. It is believed to have been spread by flea-infected rats, as well as individuals who had been infected on the continent.

Although it was relatively well contained in the Isles, it achieved even greater potency when the virus became airborne as it meant it was more quickly spread from human to human.

In the years between 1346 and 1353, the plague destroyed a higher proportion of the population than any other single known event. One observer noted: “The living were scarcely sufficient to bury the dead,” according to History Extra.

Anthony Fauci, head of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told USA Today: “The bubonic and pneumonic plague of the 14th Century... was caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, which is still very much alive and well around the world and generally seen in animal populations, and transmitted by the bite of a flea.


How did it end?


The most popular theory of how the plague ended is through the implementation of quarantines. The uninfected would typically remain in their homes and only leave when it was necessary, while those who could afford to do so would leave the more densely populated areas and live in greater isolation.

Improvements in personal hygiene are also thought to have begun to take place during the pandemic, alongside the practice of cremations rather than burials due to the sheer number of bodies.

A common myth suggests that the plagues’ third epidemic was finally wiped out in London by the Great Fire of 1666.

It’s a good story, but sadly not true, says the Museum of London.

The number of people dying from the plague was already in decline before the fire, and people continued to die after it had been extinguished.


What is the Black Death’s legacy?


“A historical turning point, as well as a vast human tragedy, the Black Death of 1346-53 is unparalleled in human history,” says Ole J Benedictow at History Today.

It would take 200 years before Europe alone was able to replenish its population to pre-plague numbers. In addition to population losses, the world also suffered monumental setbacks in terms of labour, art, culture and the economy.


Where does the Black Death still exist?


From 2010 to 2015, there were 3,248 cases of the plague reported worldwide, resulting in 584 deaths, says the World Health Organisation.

Plague can still be found on all continents, except Oceania. There is a risk of human plague wherever the bacteria, an animal carrier and human population co-exist.

It is most common in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar and Peru, and epidemics have occurred in Africa, Asia and South America. Since the 1990s, most human cases have occurred in Africa, says the WHO.

Madagascar is known for being home to the disease, and cases of bubonic plague are reported nearly every year in the country. Last year, a number cats in Wyoming, USA, were discovered with the plague, prompting warnings from state officials, says Pacific Standard magazine.


What can it teach us about coronavirus?


Serious plague outbreaks are confined to history, and the distant past is not our best source for educating current health officials on the science of virus containment.

But there are lessons to be learned from the plague on how we guard against xenophobia and persecution during outbreaks of disease. Already Europe has seen populists attempt to exploit the spread of coronavirus to call for closed borders.

Italy’s far-right politician Matteo Salvini called for “armour-plated” borders, while Germany’s far-right AfD has said the spread of the virus is down to the “dogma of the open border”.

Anti-migrant sentiment is being stoked by the far-right and fears over the coronavirus. The Italian government quarantined 276 migrants rescued off the coast of Libya last week, despite them having had no connection to people or locations affected by the coronavirus.

Economic woes also go hand-in-hand with major pandemics. Last week, the Financial Times reported that the UK’s economy could shrink by 6.5% this year in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Citing a report by Deutsche Bank, the paper notes that the British economy contracted by a staggering 23.5% in 1349, at the height of the Black Death. The report notes that even the annual contraction after the financial crisis in 2009 - the largest since the Second World War - was “only” -4.2%.

However, Andy Mukherjee of Bloomberg News says it is “impossible to predict if the virus will inject a welcome impatience into spending out of pay checks that are augmented by state support, or whether the global economy will get mired in deeper stagnation”, adding: “A disease that’s especially harsh on older people could alter global demographics, with as-yet-unpredictable consequences for pension savings and asset demand.”

He adds that the borrowing costs for large monarchies fell to 8%-10% by the early 16th century from 20%-30% before the Black Death, while “Florence, Venice and Genoa as well as cities in Germany and Holland saw rates slump to 4% from 15%”.

Writing of coronavirus: “Even if 1% of infections prove to have been fatal by the time the coronavirus is contained, the disease would likely cast a lasting shadow on behavior, preferences, prices… and yes, interest rates.”


A Chinese city has issued an epidemic warning after a local farmer contracted bubonic plague, the virus that caused the Black Death.

The herdsman from the city of Bayan Nur in Inner Mongolia is now reportedly in a stable condition, but the area has been put under a level three warning for epidemic control as a precautionary measure, according to state-run Xinhua news agency.

This warning is the second-lowest in a four-level system, but will stay in place until the end of the year, Xinhua reports. The same area was previously the scene of an outbreak of pneumonic plague in November 2019.

Officials in Bayan Nur are also investigating a second suspected case involving a 15-year-old who had apparently been in contact with a marmot hunted by a dog, the site says.

“At present, there is a risk of a human plague epidemic spreading in this city,” the local health authority said, according to the state-run China Daily. “The public should improve its self-protection awareness and ability, and report abnormal health conditions promptly.”

But we should not panic about a coronavirus-style outbreak just yet. “The bubonic plague was once the world’s most feared disease,” says the i newspaper. “However, the disease is now easily treated.”

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UN report sends ‘sobering message’ of deeply entrenched hunger globally

THE UNITED NATIONS, 14 July. - (ANA) - In much of the world, “hunger remains deeply entrenched and is rising”, the UN chief said on Monday, launching this year’s major UN food security update, highlighting that over the past five years, tens of millions of people have joined the ranks of the chronically undernourished.

As countries “continue to grapple with malnutrition in all its forms, including the growing burden of obesity”, Secretary-General António Guterres said that this year’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report “sends a sobering message”.

The authoritative global study tracking progress towards ending hunger and malnutrition, is produced jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agriculture (IFAD), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Food Programme (WFP) and World Health Organization (WHO).

In the Foreword, the heads of the UN agencies involved cautioned that “five years after the world committed to end hunger, food insecurity and all forms of malnutrition, we are still off track to achieve this objective by 2030.”

In his video message marking the launch, the UN chief spelled out that if the current trend continues, “we will not achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 – zero hunger – by 2030”.


Pandemic ‘wake-up call’


As progress in fighting hunger stalls, the coronavirus pandemic is intensifying the vulnerabilities and inadequacies of global food systems, making things even worse. 

“We cannot continue thinking of agriculture, the environment, health, poverty and hunger in isolation”, IFAD President Gilbert F. Houngbo said at the virtual launch. “World problems are interconnected, and the solutions are intertwined. The current pandemic is a wake-up call to all of us”.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that "while it is too soon to assess the full impact of #COVID19, the report estimates that 130 million more people may face chronic hunger by the end of this year",

At the same time, Mr. Guterres maintained that COVID-19 response and recovery investments must help deliver on the longer-term goal of a more inclusive, sustainable world, with resilient food systems for people and planet.

“The transformation can begin now”, he upheld.

To help “make healthy diets affordable and accessible for everyone”, Mr. Guterres announced that he would be “convening a Food Systems Summit next year”.

Against the backdrop that “many more people could slip into hunger this year”, the UN chief concluded: “We cannot let this happen”. 


Most undernourished continents


While Asia currently has the greatest quantity of undernourished (381 million), people, the report showed that the number in Africa is growing fast (250 million), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (48 million).

And although the global prevalence hungry has changed little, over the last five years, hunger has grown in step with the global population, which, in turn, hides great regional disparities.

With 19.1 per cent of its people undernourished, Africa is hit hardest and becoming even worse. This is more than double the 8.3 per cent rate in Asia and 7.4 per cent in Latin America and the Caribbean.

On current trends, by 2030, Africa will be home to more than half of the world’s chronically hungry.


Unhealthy diets, malnutrition


Around the world, countries continue to struggle with multiple forms of malnutrition, including undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, overweight and obesity, according to the food security survey.

It reveals that a staggering three billion people could not afford a healthy diet and in 2019, some 191 million children under five were stunted or wasted – too short or too thin – while another 38 million were overweight.

Meanwhile, adult obesity has become a global pandemic in its own right.

“This is unacceptable.”, said FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. “We need urgent transformation of food systems to reduce cost of nutritious foods and increase affordability of healthy diets”.

The report evidenced that a healthy diet with nutrient-rich dairy, fruits, vegetables and protein-rich foods, are the most expensive food groups globally and cost far more than $1.90 a day – the international poverty threshold.

Although high costs and low affordability prohibit billions from eating nutritiously, securing healthy diets for people who do not have enough money to pay would help check the backslide into hunger while saving some $1.3 trillion in health costs by 2030.

While specific solutions differ from country to country, and even within them, the overall answers lie with interventions along the entire food supply chain, in the food environment, and the political economy that shapes trade, public expenditure and investment policies, according to the publication.

“Despite COVID19, conflicts, weather extremes and desert locusts”, WFP chief David Beasley stressed, “we have enough wealth in the world to feed everybody”.

And yet, the UN agency is “scaling-up its scope from feeding 100 million to 130-140 million people”, he added.

In support, the IFAD president chimed in, “there are 7.8 billion people in the world. We grow enough food to feed 10 billion”.

“The problem is not production”,he  said. “Persistent and chronic hunger is the result of poverty, inequality, conflict, poor governance and marginalization of the most vulnerable”.


Clarion call


The study calls on governments to mainstream nutrition in their approaches to agriculture; support local small-scale producers to grow and sell more nutritious foods and secure their access to markets; prioritize children’s nutrition as the category in greatest need; and embed nutrition in national social protection systems and investment strategies.   - (ANA) -

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